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| Brunswick senior Sean Barnett splits Shaker defenders Jacire Eaddy and Lyric Bryant on his way to the basket in late season Greater Cleveland Conference matchup. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com) |
SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio - Brunswick was determined to secure their 19th victory of the season and remain undefeated in the Greater Cleveland Conference by beating Shaker Heights 46-37.
Brunswick would be without its double-digit scorer, Trey Drexler (rest), as Sean Barnett and freshman Blayke Hamilton stepped up in his absence.
"We knew it was going to be tougher without our point guard [Trey Drexler], he's a division one basketball player," said Head Coach Joe Mackey.
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| Brunswick head coach Joe Mackey talks during a timeout in game action. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com) |
It was clear from the start that this was going to be a challenging conference game. Both teams began sluggishly, missing shots and committing turnovers. With 4:54 remaining in the first quarter, Brunswick scored the only basket, making it 3-0 off a Blayke Hamilton long corner three.
Shaker's first points of the game came off two made free throws by Dillon Slaughter with 4:27 remaining in the quarter. Brunswick maintained and led 13-10 after the first period.
The Red Raiders would fight back in the second quarter as they would gain momentum after a huge block by Slaughter on Drew Matus and relentless play of Jacire Eaddy, who scored six of Shaker's ten points of the quarter, would only trail by one, 18-19, with 3:04 left in the half.
Brunswick would take a 21-20 lead into halftime. "It was a slow game and slow start for me," said Barnett.
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| Freshman Blayke Hamilton shoots over Ezra Epstein for one of his two three-pointers on the night. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com) |
As the third quarter began, Shaker continued to play hard and finally took its first lead of the game thanks to a shot from the field by Chris Cunningham.
The lead wouldn't hold for long because Barnett (finished with a game-high 15 points) started to heat up and make a comeback as he played more aggressively, with support from Drew Matus, who hit a crucial 3-point shot to put them ahead 36-27 by the end of the quarter.
"We got off to a rough start, but our chemistry is really good and were able to play together really easily," said Hamilton.
They would not relinquish the lead as they coasted through the third quarter despite late-game play from Shaker's Cunningham and Kingston Seals, and without their star point guard. "That's two games this year at Cleveland Heights, and now at Shaker, we were able to win without him; it's a good sign heading forward to the tournament," elaborated Mackey.
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| Chris Cunningham goes to the hole strong early in the game. He finished with 8 points for the night. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com) |
Heading into the tournament on a 7-game win streak, coincidentally, Shaker was the first win of the 7-game stretch, back on January 27, winning 85-54.
The Blue Devils wrapped up the regular season with a record of 19-3 (14-0) and are now waiting to see their seed for the tournament.
Shaker will end its regular season by playing GCC rival Cleveland Heights, and then they, too, will await their seeding in the Division II tournament.
Brunswick JV won 58-46 in the early game.
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